Chamber orders local prosperity indicators report [Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era, Pa.]

Nov. 30--Here are a few interesting facts about the half million people who call Lancaster County home:

About one of every 10 of us doesn't have health insurance.

Our median household income has fallen by more than 7 cents for every dollar earned in the past year.

The growth in the Hispanic population here has been limited mostly to Lancaster city, meaning the county is becoming less integrated.

Each bit of data is interesting in its own right. But put together along with dozens of other bits of information, they can provide a pretty complete picture of how prosperous we are, particularly in relation to other counties of similar size.

The problem is that those data are collected by and scattered about in dozens of different government agencies --from the Census Bureau to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"There are no answers in the indicators. There are no solutions in the indicators," chamber president Tom Baldrige told some 200 businesspeople gathered to hear an update on the Prosperity Indicators project Tuesday.

"... The success of this is solely dependent on how the community reacts."

The chamber's first full report, showing baseline indicators and how the county rates against similar communities nationwide, will be published in November 2012, chamber Vice President Cheryl Irwin-Bass said.

The chamber is paying an undisclosed fee to York-based Polk-Lepson Research Group to prepare the report, chamber spokeswoman Allison Bucher said.

David Polk, the firm's principle researcher on the project, said the report will serve as a valuable guide in setting benchmarks and monitoring progress - or identifying lack of progress - across the most common indicators.

The idea is to stimulate discussion and motivate the community into correction problems identified by the data.

Lancaster County Commissioner Scott Martin said the report will serve as a statistical "clearinghouse," allowing policymakers to measure the area with similar communities across the country.

"We'll be able to look in the mirror at ourselves," he said during the luncheon, held at the Doubletree Resort at Willow Valley.

The six indicators, announced Tuesday, are:

Community and culture, to include data on voter participation, volunteerism, charitable giving and funding for the arts.

Economic engine, to include data on employment rates, minority-owned businesses, tourism and mix of occupations here.

Education, to include data on standardized testing and educational attainment.

Health and safety, to include data on the number of people who have insurance, plus the rates of crime, obesity, child abuse, low birthweight children and teen pregnancy.

Physical environment, to include data on parks, air quality, recycling, time spent commuting and farmland preservation.

Well-being of people, to include data on median and per capita income, quality of pay, poverty rates, access to affordable housing and availability of quality preschool programs.

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